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Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
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Companies, 2008
C HAPTER OUTLIN E
Fruit Types 89
Simple Fleshy Fruits 89
Dry Dehiscent Fruits 89
Dry Indehiscent Fruits 89
Aggregate and Multiple Fruits 89
Seed Structure and Germination 89
Dicot Seeds 89
Monocot Seeds 92
Seed Germination and Development 92
Representative Edible Fruits 92
Tomatoes 92
A CLOSER LOOK 6.1 The
Influence of Hormones on Plant
Reproductive Cycles 94
Apples 96
Oranges and Grapefruits 98
Chestnuts 99
Exotic Fruits 100
Chapter Summary 101
Review Questions 101
Further Reading 102
KEY C ON C EPTS
1.
2.
3.
C H A P T E R
6
Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
88
Pineapple, a multiple fruit, forms from the fusion of
the ripened ovaries of each flower in the spike.
Fruits are ripened ovaries that are the
end products of sexual reproduction in
angiosperms and are a major vehicle for
the dispersal of their enclosed seeds.
Protected by a tough outer coat, seeds
are ripened ovules that contain an
embryonic plant plus some nutritive
tissue and are the starting point for the
next generation.
Edible fruits of various types play a
major role in the human diet.
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
CHAPTER 6
F
ruits, as are flowers, are unique aspects of sexual
reproduction in angiosperms; they protect the enclosed
seeds and aid in their dispersal. Not only are fruits
essential in the angiosperm life cycle; they also are widely
utilized as significant food sources.
FRUIT TYPES
The fruit wall that develops from the ovary wall is known
as the pericarp and is composed of three layers: the outer
exocarp, the middle mesocarp, and the inner endocarp. The
thickness and distinctiveness of these three layers vary among
different fruit types.
Simple Fleshy Fruits
Simple fruits are derived from the ovary of a single carpel
or several fused carpels and are described as fleshy or dry.
When ripe, the pericarp of fleshy fruits is often soft and juicy.
Seed dispersal in the fleshy fruits is accomplished when animals eat the fruits. The following describes the most common
types of fleshy fruits (fig. 6.1):
A berry has a thin exocarp a soft fleshy mesocarp, and
an endocarp enclosing one to many seeds. Tomatoes,
grapes, and blueberries are familiar berries.
A hesperidium is a berry with a tough leathery rind such as
oranges, lemons, and other citrus fruits.
A pepo is a specialized berry with a tough outer rind (consisting
of both receptacle tissue and exocarp); the mesocarp and
endocarp are fleshy. All members of the squash family,
including pumpkins, melons, and cucumbers, form pepos.
A drupe has a thin exocarp, a fleshy mesocarp, and a hard
stony endocarp that encases the seed; cherries, peaches,
and plums are examples.
Apples and pears are pomes; most of the fleshy part of pomes
develops from the enlarged base of the perianth that has
fused to the ovary wall.
As described for the pepo and pome, some fruits develop
from flower parts other than the ovary; fruits of these types
are termed accessory fruits.
Dry Dehiscent Fruits
The pericarp of dry fruits may be tough and woody or thin
and papery; dry fruits fall into two categories, dehiscent and
indehiscent. Dehiscent fruits split open at maturity and so
release their seeds. Dehiscent fruits usually contain more than
one seed and often many seeds. When the fruit wall opens,
the seeds can be dispersed individually rather than en masse.
Wind often aids the dispersal of seeds from dehiscent fruits.
Three common types of dehiscent fruit—follicles, legumes,
and capsules—are characterized by the way in which they
open. Follicles, as found in magnolia and milkweed, split
open along one seam while legumes such as bean pods and
pea pods split along two seams (fig. 6.1). The most common
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Plant Life Cycle: Fruits and Seeds
89
dehiscent fruit is a capsule that may open along many pores or
slits; cotton and poppy are representative capsules.
Dry Indehiscent Fruits
Indehiscent fruits do not split open. Instead, they use other
means of dispersing the seeds. Achenes, samaras, grains, and
nuts are examples of indehiscent fruits. Sunflower “seeds” are,
in fact, achenes, one-seeded fruits in which the pericarp is free
from the seed (fig. 6.1). Carried by the wind, the winged fruits of
maple, elm, and ash trees are familiar types of samaras. Samaras
are usually described as modified achenes. The fruits of all our
cereal grasses are grains, single-seeded fruits in which the pericarp is fused to the seed coat. Also called a caryopsis, this type
of fruit is found in wheat, rice, corn, and barley. Botanically,
nuts are one-seeded fruits with hard stony pericarps such as
hazelnuts, chestnuts, and acorns. In common usage, however,
the term nut has also been applied to seeds of other plants; peanuts, cashews, and almonds are actually seeds, not nuts.
Aggregate and Multiple Fruits
Aggregate fruits develop from a single flower with many
separate carpels, all of which ripen at the same time as in
raspberries and blackberries. Strawberries, another aggregate
fruit, also contain accessory tissue. The brownish yellow
spots on the surface are actually achenes inserted on the
enlarged, fleshy, red receptacle (fig. 6.1).
Multiple fruits result from the fusion of ovaries from
many separate flowers on an inflorescence. Figs and pineapples are examples of multiple fruits (fig. 6.1).
SEED STRUCTURE AND
GERMINATION
A seed contains the next generation and so completes the life
cycle of a flowering plant. The seed develops from the fertilized ovule and includes an embryonic plant and some form
of nutritive tissue within a seed coat. Differences between
dicots and monocots are apparent within seeds. The very
names, dicot and monocot, refer to the number of seed leaves,
or cotyledons, present in the seed. Dicot seeds usually have
two cotyledons that are attached to and enclose the embryonic plant. The cotyledons, which are often large and fleshy,
occupy the greatest part of the dicot seed and have absorbed
the nutrients from the endosperm. Thus, the endosperm in
many dicot seeds either is lacking entirely or is very much
reduced. Monocots have a single thin cotyledon that functions
to transfer food from the endosperm to the embryo. In several
monocot families, large amounts of endosperm are apparent.
Because of these stored nutrient reserves (either in the cotyledons or the endosperm), many seeds, like many fruits, are
valuable foods for humans and other animals.
Dicot Seeds
The garden bean, because of its large size, is a good example
of a dicot seed (fig. 6.2a). A thin membranous seed coat, also
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
90
UNIT II
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2008
Introduction to Plant Life: Botanical Principles
Simple Fleshy
Simple Dry Dehiscent
Pit
Drupe
Berry
Follicle
Legume
Capsule
Simple Dry Indehiscent
Pome
Hesperidium
Seed
Rind
Achene
Pepo
Aggregate
Multiple
Grain
Samara
Bracts
Nut
Figure 6.1 The berry, hesperidium, pepo, and pome are fruits in which at least part of the pericarp is soft and juicy. Fruits such as the
follicle, legume, and capsule are characterized by the way in which they open. Achenes, grains, and nuts are dry fruits that do not split open
to disperse the seed. A samara (as in elm or maple) is a winged fruit that uses wind as the dispersal agent. Blackberries and strawberries
are collections of fruits that develop from the many separate carpels of a single flower. The pineapple is a multiple fruit that forms when
the ovaries of individual flowers in a flower cluster fuse.
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
CHAPTER 6
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2008
Plant Life Cycle: Fruits and Seeds
Seed coat
Epicotyl
Hypocotyl-radicle axis
Cotyledon
Cotyledons
Seed structure
Withered
cotyledons
First true
leaves
Hypocotyl
Seed coat
Hypocotyl
Seed coat
Primary
root
Hypocotyl
Secondary
root
Primary root
Germination
(a)
Pericarp
Endosperm
Cotyledon
Coleoptile
First leaf
Radicle
Coleorhiza
Seed structure
Coleoptile
Prop roots
Coleoptile
Primary root
Radicle
Primary root
(b)
Germination
Figure 6.2 Seed structure and germination of (a) a dicot, the garden bean, and (b) a monocot, corn.
91
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
92
UNIT II
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2008
Introduction to Plant Life: Botanical Principles
known as the testa, encloses the seed. A hilum and micropyle
are visible on the surface of the testa. The hilum is a scar that
results from the separation of the seed from the ovary wall.
Recall that the micropyle, seen as a small pore, is the opening
in the integument through which the pollen tube enters the
ovule. If the seed coat is removed, the two large food-storing
cotyledons are easily seen and separated. Sheltered between
the cotyledons is the embryo axis consisting of the epicotyl,
the hypocotyl, and the radicle. The epicotyl develops into the
shoot (stems and leaves) of the seedling and typically bears
embryonic leaves within the seed. The hypocotyl is the portion of the embryo axis between the cotyledon attachment and
the radicle, the embryonic root.
Monocot Seeds
The corn kernel is a familiar grain that can be used to illustrate
the composition of a monocot seed (fig. 6.2b). It is important
to remember that a grain is a fruit in which the testa of the single seed is fused to the pericarp. One major difference from
the garden bean is the presence of extensive endosperm that
occupies much of the volume of the seed. The small embryo
has only a single cotyledon called a scutellum. Seeds in the
grass family (such as corn) have other differences, including
the presence of a coleoptile (a protective sheath that surrounds the epicotyl) and a coleorhiza (a protective covering
around the radicle).
Concept Quiz
Monocot seeds have a single, thin cotyledon whereas dicot
seeds usually contain two prominent cotyledons.
How does nourishment of the embryonic plant differ between
monocots and dicots?
Seed Germination and Development
With appropriate environmental conditions (adequate moisture and oxygen and appropriate temperature) seeds germinate (fig. 6.2). The first structure to emerge from the
seed is the radicle, which continues to grow and produces
the primary root. In corn, the radicle first breaks through
the coleorhiza. This early establishment of the root system
enables the developing seedling to absorb water for continued growth. Next, the shoot emerges. In garden beans,
the hypocotyl elongates and breaks through the soil in a
characteristic arch that protects the epicotyl tip with its
embryonic leaves. In most dicots the cotyledons are carried
aboveground with the expanding hypocotyl while in others
the cotyledons remain belowground. Soon after the tissues
of the seedling emerge from underground and are exposed
to sunlight, they develop chlorophyll and begin to photosynthesize. The exposure to sunlight also triggers the hypocotyl
to straighten into an erect position. The coleoptile of corn
emerges from the soil; the epicotyl soon breaks through
the coleoptile, and the embryonic leaves begin expanding.
Establishment of the seedling is the most critical phase in
the life of a plant, and high mortality is common. Seedlings
are sensitive to environmental stress and vulnerable to
attack by pathogens and predators; established plants have a
greater array of defenses.
REPRESENTATIVE EDIBLE FRUITS
Of the more than 250,000 known species of angiosperm, only
a small percentage produce fruits that have been utilized by
humans; however, these have made a significant impact on
our diet and economics. Fruits are packed with nutrients and
are particularly excellent sources of vitamin C, potassium,
and fiber. As this chapter describes, a fruit is a mature or
ripened ovary, but this botanical definition has been ignored
in the marketplace. Even the U.S. Supreme Court has debated
the question, What is a fruit?
It all started in the late nineteenth century when an
enterprising New Jersey importer, John Nix, refused to pay
the vegetable import tariff on a shipment of tomatoes from
the West Indies. He argued that the 10% duty placed on vegetables by the Tariff Act of 1883 was not applicable to tomatoes since botanically they are fruits, not vegetables. This
fruit-vegetable debate eventually reached the U.S. Supreme
Court in 1893 (fig. 6.3). Justice Horace Gray wrote the decision, stating,
Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruits of the
vine, just as are cucumbers, squashes, beans and
peas. But in the common language of the people,
whether sellers or consumers of provisions, all
these are vegetables which are grown in kitchen
garden, and which, whether eaten cooked or raw,
are, like potatoes, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets,
cauliflower, cabbage, celery, and lettuce, usually
served at dinner, in, with, or after the soup, fish,
or meats, which constitute the principal part of the
repast, and not, like fruits, generally as dessert.
Tomatoes were legally declared vegetables and Nix paid
the tariff. Despite the legal definition, botanists still consider
tomatoes to be berries.
Tomatoes
Tomatoes, Solanum lycopersicum, (formerly Lycopersicon
esculentom) are native to Central and South America, in the
Andes region of Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru
and are believed to have been first domesticated in Mexico.
The Spanish conquistadors introduced the tomato to Europe,
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
CHAPTER 6
Figure 6.3 An 1893 decision of the U.S. Supreme Court
decided that the tomato was legally a vegetable.
where it was first known as the “Apple of Peru,” the first
of many names for this fruit. Later it was known as pomo
doro, golden apple (early varieties were yellow), in Italy, and
pomme d’amour, love apple (it was believed by many to be
an aphrodisiac), in France. The common name for the fruit
comes from the Aztec word for it, tomatl. The scientific name
also reflects another early myth about the tomato; literally
translated lycopersicon means “wolf peach,” a reference to
its poisonous relatives, including the deadly nightshade and
henbane. Despite its described edibility, it took years for the
tomato to live down its poisonous reputation. One bizarre
demonstration of its lack of toxicity took place in Salem, New
Jersey, in 1820 when Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson ate a
bushel of tomatoes in front of a crowd gathered to witness
his certain demise. His obvious survival, without ill effects,
finally settled the issue of the tomato’s edibility.
Over the years since Johnson’s demonstration, the
tomato, owing to its attractiveness, taste, and versatility, has
become one of the most commonly eaten “vegetables” in the
United States; we each consume approximately 36 kilograms
(80 pounds) every year. Individually, the tomato is largely
water, with only small amounts of vitamins and minerals, but
because of the large volume consumed, the tomato leads all
fruits and vegetables in supplying these dietary requirements.
Its versatility is almost unequaled; what would pizza, ketchup,
bloody Marys, salads, and lasagna be without tomatoes?
There are over 500 cultivars, cultivated varieties, in the
species Solanum lycopersicum. The most familiar varieties
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Plant Life Cycle: Fruits and Seeds
93
have large fruits, such as Big Boy, Mammoth Wonder, and
Beefsteak. At the other extreme are the cherry tomatoes,
which scientists believe are most similar to the ancestral
wild type. Today’s large-scale commercial production yields
a tomato very different from the home garden varieties.
Commercial tomatoes have been bred for efficient mechanical harvesting, transportability, and long shelf life, not necessarily for taste. Another characteristic that has improved the
commercial varieties is the determinate habit. This trait originally appeared as a spontaneous mutation in Florida in 1914.
Determinate plants are shorter, bushier, and more compact
than the indeterminate habit, which has a more sprawling
pattern of growth that requires extensive staking or trellising.
Although no other species are widely cultivated, scientists
are interested in the salt tolerance of Solanum cheesmanii,
which is native to the Galápagos Islands. This species, unlike
S. lycopersicum, is able to survive in seawater, with its high
salt concentration. Developing salt tolerance in crop plants
is one of the aims of plant-breeding programs since salttolerant crops will allow agriculture to expand into areas with
saline soils.
Tomatoes are one of the most common plants grown in the
home garden. Even in large metropolitan areas, many apartment dwellers will grow patio varieties in containers. Home
gardeners have all watched the stages of growth, flowering,
and fruit ripening as they wait for the first harvest. Tomato
fruits require 40 to 60 days from flowering to reach maturity.
Once fertilization has occurred, the fruit rapidly increases in
size, reaching its mature size in 20 to 30 days. In the latter half
of fruit development, color changes reflect internal changes in
the acidity, sweetness, and vitamin C content of the fruit. The
first hint of ripening is seen when the green fruit lightens as a
result of chlorophyll breakdown. As the chlorophyll content
continues to decrease, additional carotenoids are synthesized.
The carotenoids, beta-carotene (orange) and especially lycopene (red), give the mature fruit its characteristic color. As
the red color deepens, the acidity decreases, the sugars and
vitamin C increase, the flavor develops, and the fruit softens.
These changes coincide with increases in ethylene and a sudden peak in respiration in the fruit. Ethylene is a gaseous plant
hormone that is involved in several developmental stages but
is best known for its involvement with fruit ripening. (See
A Closer Look 6.1—The Influence of Hormones on Plant
Reproductive Cycles.) When tomatoes are picked green and
ripened in storage, they have lower vitamin C and sugar content and poorer flavor; this explains why most people prefer
a vine-ripened tomato.
Many home gardeners have noticed the role that temperature plays in tomato development and ripening. Most
varieties do best when air temperatures are between 18° and
27°C (65°–80°F). When temperatures are either too hot or
too cold, fruit set is inhibited. Also, temperatures above 29°C
(85°F) inhibit the development of the red pigments.
Some species of wild tomatoes in South America produce purple fruits, but the tomatoes are small and often poisonous. Seeds of purple tomatoes were collected in the 1960s
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2008
A CLOSER LOOK 6.1
The Influence of Hormones on Plant Reproductive Cycles
Many phases of the plant life cycle, including flowering and
fruit development, are influenced by hormones, which act as
chemical messengers that are effective at very low concentrations. Hormones are produced in one part of an organism
and have their effects on another part of that organism. The
major types of plant hormones are auxins, gibberellins,
cytokinins, abscisic acid, and ethylene. In addition, some
other hormones have recently been described.
Auxins are the best known of the plant hormones and
were the first to be discovered. The research done by
Charles Darwin and his son Francis in the late 1870s led to
the discovery of this hormone several decades later. The
Darwins studied phototropism (growth toward the light)
and suggested that this response was due to an “influence”
produced in the tip of a coleoptile that then moved to the
growing area. Experiments by Dutch physiologist Frits Went
in the 1920s demonstrated that the “influence” was actually
a chemical compound, which Went named auxin. Auxins are
produced in apical meristems and other actively growing
plant parts including young leaves, flowers, fruits, and pollen
tubes.
In addition to phototropism, auxins are involved in many
stages of growth and development. Auxins promote elongation of young stems and coleoptiles by stimulating cell
elongation. They inhibit lateral bud development and thus
promote apical dominance, producing a plant with a main
stem and limited branching. Auxins stimulate adventitious
root initiation and are also involved in growth responses to
gravity (gravitropism).
Auxins regulate fruit development. They are produced
by the pollen tube as it grows through the style and by the
embryo and endosperm in developing seeds. Fruit growth
depends on these sources of auxin. The application of auxins
to the flowers of some plants, such as tomato and cucumber,
before the pollen is mature can promote parthenocarpy, leading to the development of seedless fruits (see Chapter 5).
Synthetic auxins have auxinlike activity but do not occur
naturally in plants. Often they are more effective than natural
auxins in stimulating plant responses. There are many agricultural and horticultural uses for both naturally occurring
and synthetic auxins. In general, auxins have no effect on
flowering; the exception is pineapple. Auxins can be applied
to pineapple plants to promote uniform flowering; however,
this is a secondary effect because the auxins stimulate ethylene formation, and ethylene is the hormone that actually
promotes flowering in pineapple.
Maturing fruit of apples, oranges, and grapefruit can be
sprayed with auxins to prevent the premature development
of abscission layers (separation zones) and the resulting fruit
drop. Higher doses of auxins, however, can cause abscission, and this phenomenon can also be used to growers’
advantage. Heavy applications of synthetic auxins are used
commercially to promote a coordinated abscission of various
fruits to facilitate harvesting.
Gibberellins were isolated and chemically identified in
1939 by Japanese botanists. Like auxins, gibberellins are
involved in many aspects of plant growth and development.
Gibberellins promote stem elongation of dwarf plants by
stimulating internode elongation. Dwarf varieties of many
species will grow to normal size if supplied with gibberellins.
Gibberellins promote seed germination of some plants by
substituting for an environmental (cold or light) trigger.
Gibberellins can stimulate flowering in biennials during the
first year. Biennials typically produce a tight cluster of leaves
(called a rosette) in their first year. This rosette occurs on
stems with very short internodes. In the second year, internodes expand greatly and the plants flower; this expansion
and flowering is called bolting. The application of gibberellins
to the rosette will promote bolting during the first year. This
hormone-induced bolting allows growers to harvest seeds
after one year instead of two. Commercially, gibberellins
are also used to increase the size of seedless grapes and to
stimulate germination of barley seeds for beer production.
Cytokinins stimulate cell division and differentiation of
plant organs. This hormone, along with auxins, is necessary as an ingredient in media for tissue culture of plant
and 1970s and then bred to modern varieties. The resulting
hybrids are larger, nontoxic, and deep purple, similar in color
to an eggplant. Researchers found a gene in the wild purple
tomatoes called anthocyanin fruit (Aft), which codes for the
production of high levels of these pigments (see Chapter 2)
and the purple hue. Through breeding experiments, the Aft
gene in the wild tomato was passed on to the new purple
hybrid. The skin of the purple tomatoes still contains lycopene in addition to the anthocyanins. Both types of pigments
are powerful antioxidants and are believed to reduce the risk
of cancer and heart disease. Purple tomatoes may soon be
found in farmers’ markets around the country.
During the spring of 1990, millions of elementary school
children and high school and college students in the United
States and 30 other countries were given the opportunity to
participate in the SEEDS project. The project was a cooperative venture between NASA and the George W. Park Seed
Company to compare the growth of space-exposed seeds
94
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
Box Figure 6.1 Researchers measure the respiration
and ethylene production of tomatoes in experiments aimed at
maintaining the quality of fresh produce.
cells (see Chapter 15). Cytokinins also delay senescence in
detached plant parts. Treated areas remain green and healthy
while the surrounding tissues age and die. For this reason,
cytokinins are sometimes used commercially to maintain the
freshness of cut flowers.
Abscisic acid is an inhibitor hormone that promotes
dormancy in seeds and buds. It is also involved in regulating
water balance in plants by causing stomata to close. This last
response is the one that is understood best. In well-watered
plants, abscisic acid concentrations in leaves are very low, but
with the growth of control seeds stored on Earth. The spacebound seeds had been launched into orbit aboard the LDEF
satellite on April 7, 1984, by the Space Shuttle Challenger.
The LDEF (Long Duration Exposure Facility) satellite is a
cylindrical structure approximately 9 meters (29.5 feet) long
and 4 meters (13 feet) in diameter and built to house many
separate experiments that were designed to test the effects
of space on various systems. Twelve and one-half million
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levels increase rapidly if plants are exposed to severe drought.
The buildup of abscisic acid results in stomatal closure, which
causes transpiration rates to decrease dramatically.
Ethylene is an unusual plant hormone because it is a
gas. This gas can be produced in all parts of the plant but
is especially prominent in roots, the shoot apical meristem,
senescing (aging) flowers, and ripening fruit. In addition, high
levels of auxin stimulate ethylene production. Ethylene is
sometimes considered a stress hormone because it is produced in wounded or infected tissues and flooded plants.
These stressed plants exhibit leaf epinasty (downward curling), swollen stems, or leaf abscission, responses all induced
by ethylene.
Ethylene promotes flowering in a few species such as
pineapple. As described, synthetic auxins have been used
to trigger flowering in pineapple plantations. The auxins
stimulate ethylene formation, which induces uniform flowering. Today, many growers take a direct approach and spray
their plants with ethephon, a compound that breaks down
to release ethylene.
Possibly the most dramatic effects of ethylene are on
fruit ripening. Ethylene stimulates fruit softening, the conversion of starch to sugars, and the production of volatile
compounds that impart aromas and flavor in many types
of fruit, especially apples, oranges, tomatoes, and bananas.
These changes are generally accompanied by a peak in cellular respiration of the fruit (box fig. 6.1). Commercially,
ethylene can be used to produce ripe fruits throughout the
winter. Apples and other fruits are picked green and stored
under conditions that inhibit ethylene synthesis. When fruits
are required for sale, they are exposed to small amounts of
ethylene, which induce ripening. As the fruits begin to ripen
they produce their own ethylene, which further accelerates the maturing process and provides table-ready fruit
throughout the year.
Concept Quiz
Plant hormones influence many phases of plant growth and
development, from seed germination to flowering and fruit
formation.
Which of the plant hormones can be utilized commercially
because of their effects on fruit development or maturation?
Rutgers California Supreme tomato seeds were aboard
LDEF for almost 6 years, experiencing weightlessness and
exposure to cosmic radiation for longer than any previous
NASA experiment involving biological tissue. The satellite
was recovered by the Space Shuttle Columbia and returned
to Earth on January 20, 1990. The first germination test
began in late February and continued throughout the spring
as seed packages were mailed to teachers and students. The
95
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
96
UNIT II
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
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Companies, 2008
Introduction to Plant Life: Botanical Principles
first conclusion reached was that after nearly 6 years in
space, the tomato seeds were still viable. In fact, they consistently exhibited an 18%–30% faster germination rate than
their Earth-based counterparts. Growth rates of the space
seedlings were also accelerated for the first three or four
weeks; after that the Earth-based seedlings caught up and no
significant differences between the Earth and space tomato
plants or their fruits were observed (table 6.1). Researchers
also observed a greater number of mutant individuals such
as albino plants, stunted individuals, and one plant with no
leaves at all, in the space-exposed group. Interestingly, plants
of space-exposed seeds had greater levels of chlorophylls and
carotenes than did those of the Earth group. Perhaps the most
significant conclusion of the SEEDS project is the proof that
seeds can survive relatively undamaged in space for long
periods of time.
Apples
began with thirteenth- and fourteenth-century artists, whose
Latin was poor; they incorrectly translated the mali to mean
apple tree.
The legend of Johnny Appleseed is another story familiar
to most Americans. There really was a Johnny Appleseed; his
name was John Chapman. He was born in Massachusetts in
1774, but we know nothing of his early life. He appeared in
1797 sowing apple seeds in what was the Northwest Territory
in frontier America: western Pennsylvania, Ohio, and eastern
Indiana. Chapman probably saw more of America than most
of his contemporaries; he traveled hundreds of miles by foot,
horseback, and canoe. Chapman was an itinerant orchardist who
gave away or sold—and even planted with his own hands—
apple seeds and seedlings that gave rise to acres of apple trees
throughout the region (fig. 6.4). Some of the orchards are still
in existence today. He continued his mission until his death in
1845 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a city that still honors his memory
every summer with a Johnny Appleseed Festival.
Apples, Malus pumila, have a long history of human use; they
were among the first tree fruits to be domesticated in temperate regions. Most of today’s cultivated varieties are descendants of apples native to central and western Asia, where the
apple has been domesticated for thousands of years. Near
Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata in Kazakhstan, there are forests
of 50-foot (17-meter) wild apple trees, some 350 years old.
Alma-Ata, in fact, means “father of the apple.” Because of its
long history, the apple also has a place in the imagery and
folklore of many cultures. The following expressions reveal
the apple as more than a tasty fruit in American culture: the
“Big Apple,” “American as apple pie,” “apple of your eye,”
“apple polishing,” “apple pie order,” and “an apple a day
keeps the doctor away.”
Most people are familiar with the biblical story of Adam
and Eve and the presumed role of the “apple” in the downfall
of humankind. In reality, the apple’s only involvement was
due to a faulty translation from the Latin version of the Old
Testament. The confusion starts with the Latin word mali,
which could refer to malum, meaning evil, or to malus,
meaning apple tree. In Genesis, Adam and Eve were told
not to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. The erroneous association with apple trees
Table 6.1 Comparisons of
Space-Exposed and Earth-Based
Tomato Seeds, SEEDS Project
Space-Exposed
Earth-Based
Percent germination
66.3
64.6
Average height (cm)
at 56 days
21.2
20.9
Percent flowering
73.4
72.3
Percent fruiting
74.6
76.1
Figure 6.4 John Chapman, known better as Johnny Appleseed,
sowed apple seeds on the American frontier from the 1790s to
1845.
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
CHAPTER 6
Apple trees are medium-sized trees with a broad, rounded
crown and a short trunk. They are generally spreading, longlived trees that can bear fruit for up to a century. In modern
commercial orchards, however, dwarf trees have become the
norm. Often about 6 feet (almost 2 meters) tall, these trees are
easily pruned and mechanically harvested.
The apple blossoms appear in profusion early in the
spring before the leaves develop. The fragrant pinkish white
blossoms are five-merous flowers (containing five sepals,
five petals, numerous stamens, and a five-carpeled ovary)
that are usually pollinated by bees (fig. 6.5). The apple
tree requires cold winter temperatures in order to flower
and, therefore, cannot be grown in tropical and subtropical
climates. The leading apple-growing areas in the United
States are Washington, Oregon, and northern California
in the West and Michigan, New York, and Virginia in the
East.
Although Johnny Appleseed distributed thousands of
apple seeds, today’s modern orchardist does not grow the
trees from seeds. Each seed is a unique combination of traits
that are not identical to either parent; in a sense, planting
a seed is a genetic experiment. Although some seeds may
develop into valuable varieties, most will not. (Interestingly,
most of our familiar cultivars did develop as chance or
volunteer seedlings from naturally produced seeds.) Also,
planting seeds is a long-term experiment, and it would take
a number of years to know the results. Today’s apple growers need to ensure uniformity in their orchards, not only to
produce apples with the desired flavor and taste but also to
maximize efficiency at harvest time. As a result, most apple
trees are produced by grafting (a form of asexual reproduction or cloning) in which stem cuttings or buds from a
desirable cultivar are joined to the base of a second tree. The
cutting or bud, called the scion, will become the upper or top
portion of the new tree, while the rootstock, or simply stock,
of the second tree is the root system of the graft combination. Grafting can create thousands of identical copies of a
variety that will continue to produce apples with the desired
characteristics.
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As described earlier, the apple is a pome, a simple
fleshy fruit with accessory tissue. The core of the apple is a
five-carpeled ovary with seeds; the ovary wall is visible as
a fine brownish line, and the endocarp is prominent as the
parchmentlike material around the seeds (fig. 6.6). The skin
and flesh of the apple develop from the receptacle and base
of the perianth. A ripe apple, although mostly water, contains
about 12% sugar, 1% fiber, and negligible amounts of fat
and protein. Approximately 50% of the apples harvested are
consumed as fresh fruit, with the remainder being processed
into applesauce, apple butter, apple cider, apple juice, cider
vinegar, dried apples, and canned apples.
Although there are thousands of varieties of apple, only
a few can be found in the modern supermarket. In the past,
many more varieties were available to consumers; virtually
gone from the market are old staples such as Baldwin, Early
Harvest, Fall Pippin, and Gravenstein. Today, Red Delicious,
Golden Delicious, and Granny Smith are the most common
apples seen. The red delicious apple was first discovered
in Iowa in the 1870s, but its popularity can be traced to the
growth of the large supermarket chains during the 1950s and
1960s. It became the generic “red apple” to the American
consumer. Other commercially important red apples include
the Rome, Jonathan, and McIntosh. A popular red-gold
variety is Jonagold, considered by many experts as the topranking apple. It was created from a cross between Golden
Delicious and Jonathan apples. The Golden Delicious, the
leading yellow apple, arose by chance on a West Virginia
farm in 1910. The Granny Smith is a tart green apple that
originated in New Zealand. Growers are constantly developing new varieties. One of the newest is Gala, a red and yellow apple also developed in New Zealand. Fuji was created
by Japanese breeders who crossed a Red Delicious with the
heirloom Ralls Janet. Its sweetness and crispiness have made
it a popular variety.
The world’s most extensive collection of apple varieties is maintained in Geneva, New York, at the Agricultural
Experiment Station run by Cornell University and the
Exocarp
Mesocarp
Endocarp
Pip
Figure 6.5 The apple blossom is being pollinated by a bee.
Figure 6.6 In this longitudinal section of the apple fruit,
the brown line (exocarp) delineates the true ovary wall from
the outer accessory tissue. The endocarp is the brown papery
material surrounding each seed or pip.
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
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UNIT II
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2008
Introduction to Plant Life: Botanical Principles
Plant Genetic Resources Unit of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA). More than 5,000 apple trees are
planted on this 50-acre farm; these consist of 2,500 apple
varieties, with two trees of each variety. An additional 500
types are stored as seeds at this repository. The apples come
from all over the world and include wild apples, modern
cultivars, and obsolete cultivars. In an attempt to preserve
the genetic diversity of apples, researchers from Geneva
have traveled throughout central Asia searching for unique
apples. In addition to cultivating these varieties, the Geneva
Repository distributes over 3,000 specimens (as seeds
or scions) each year to apple researchers throughout the
world. This facility can be considered a modern-day Johnny
Appleseed.
Oranges and Grapefruits
The citrus family (Rutaceae) is the source of many edible
fruits; sweet oranges (Citrus sinensis), grapefruits (C. paradisi), tangerines (C. reticulata), lemons (C. limon), and
limes (C. aurantifolia) come to mind most immediately. But
there are also pummelos (C. grandis), citrons and etrogs (C.
medica), bergamots (C. bergamia), sour oranges (C. aurantium), and kumquats (Fortunella japonica). Most of these
species are native to southeastern Asia, where they were
undoubtedly cultivated by native peoples. Brought by caravan from the East, the citron was the first citrus fruit known
to Western civilization; it was widely grown throughout the
Mediterranean area during Greek and Roman times, being
spread by the Jewish people, for whom it had religious significance. Centuries later, Europeans became acquainted with
sour oranges, lemons, and limes when Arabic traders during
the Middle Ages introduced them from the East. It was not
until the sixteenth century, however, that the sweet orange,
the most familiar type today, was brought to Europe by
Portuguese traders. It is believed that these first sweet oranges
came from India, but later oranges were brought from China,
which is believed to be the country of origin, as reflected in
its scientific name, Citrus sinensis.
Spanish and Portuguese explorers introduced citrus to
the New World; by 1565 sour orange trees were growing
in Florida. After Florida became a state in 1821, the wild
groves of sour oranges became the rootstocks for the sweet
orange industry. Florida soon became, and remains, the leading orange-producing state. Valencia oranges are the main
variety cultivated in Florida; this is a thin-skinned, seeded
orange grown primarily for juice. Citrus was brought to
California by the Spanish missionaries in the eighteenth century. Today, we associate the navel orange with California,
but these oranges have their origins in Bahia, Brazil. In 1870,
an American missionary stationed in Bahia was impressed
by the appearance and flavor of a local variety and sent
12 saplings to the USDA in Washington, D.C. The USDA
propagated the trees and offered free plants to anyone wishing to grow them. In 1873, a Riverside, California, resident,
Mrs. Luther Tibbets, received two trees that were such a
success that they were soon widely propagated. In fact, it is
believed that all navel oranges today are descendants of Mrs.
Tibbets’s trees.
Botanically, a citrus fruit is a hesperidium. The thick rind
is impregnated with oil glands, a characteristic of the family.
Fragrant essential oils attract animals for fruit and seed dispersal and are important commercially for perfumes and cosmetics. Within the fruit, the individual carpels are filled with
many one-celled juice sacs. Although the carpels are always
distinct, their ease of separation varies with the type and variety of fruit. Navel oranges are noted for their seedless condition and for the navel, which is actually a small aborted ovary
near the top of the fruit. Although widespread cultivation of
navel oranges is a fairly recent phenomenon, Europeans were
aware of navel oranges in the seventeenth century. Navel
oranges have probably appeared spontaneously many times
throughout the history of orange growing.
The color development in oranges is not related to ripening. The orange color associated with the fruit develops
only under cool nighttime temperatures; in tropical climates
the fruits stay green. In most areas, a deep orange color is
needed for successful marketing, and growers use various
methods to achieve the desired color. The most widely used
method involves exposing the ripened fruit to ethylene, which
promotes the loss of chlorophyll, thereby making the orange
carotenes visible. As a group, the citrus fruits are high in
vitamin C. Those that are orange-colored also provide some
beta-carotene (precursor to vitamin A) and calcium.
The largest citrus fruits are pummelos (Citrus grandis
or C. maxima), which can be up to 12 inches (30 cm) in
diameter and have a thick yellow rind. There may be up to
14 carpels, with pulp varying from pale yellow to deep red
and from slightly sweet to markedly acidic. Although pummelos are well known throughout Asia, it is only in recent
years that they have started appearing in grocery stores in
the United States. They are especially popular in cities with a
large Chinese population and are a favorite for Chinese New
Year festivities.
Pummelos are native to Southeast Asia and have
been widely cultivated throughout that area. It is believed
that pummelos may be one of the ancestral species in the
genus Citrus. Arab traders introduced pummelos to Spain
in the twelfth century. Pummelo seeds were brought to
the Western Hemisphere in the seventeenth century by an
English sea captain, James Shaddock, on a return voyage
from the East Indies; by 1696 the fruit was being cultivated
in Barbados and Jamaica. In many areas, pummelos are also
known as shaddocks in tribute to this seventeenth-century
sea captain.
Pummelos’ most enduring claim to fame is as one of
the ancestors of the grapefruit. It is generally believed that
grapefruits arose as a natural hybrid between pummelos and
sweet oranges on the island of Barbados during the eighteenth
century. The grapefruit was first described in 1750, when
it was called a forbidden fruit. The name grapefruit, which
refers to the fact that fruits develop in grapelike clusters of
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
CHAPTER 6
three or more, was first used in 1814, and grapefruits were
botanically characterized as a separate species and named
Citrus paradisi in 1837.
The first U.S. grapefruit trees were planted in Florida in
the early nineteenth century, and the first commercial groves
were established in 1875. By the beginning of the twentieth
century, the Florida grapefruit industry was going strong,
and today Florida is the world’s leading grapefruit producer.
Noteworthy grapefruits are the Texas Ruby Reds, which initially developed as a mutation from a pink-fleshed grapefruit
tree in 1929. About half of the U.S. grapefruit crop is processed into juice or fruit sections.
Grapefruit juice made medical headlines after the first
report of a grapefruit juice–drug interaction in 1991. Since
that time, hundreds of studies have been performed to determine the mode of action and which prescription drugs are
affected. Among the prescription drugs that show interaction with grapefruit juice are various types of tranquilizers,
antihistamines, calcium channel blockers (used to lower
blood pressure and to treat heart disease), cholesterollowering drugs, and immunosupressants. The grapefruit juice
effect centers on the enzyme CYP3A in the intestinal wall
that normally metabolizes drugs and thereby regulates their
uptake. Grapefruit juice inactivates or inhibits the enzyme,
causing a greater uptake of the drugs and elevated drug levels
in the bloodstream. In some instances, the drug levels have
been dangerously high and have resulted in death. A study
in 2006 looked at compounds called furanocoumarins, which
are plentiful in grapefruit juice but are found in insignificant
concentrations or not at all in most other citrus juices, as the
responsible culprits. Researchers processed grapefruit juice
by removing its furanocoumarins. Subjects were given a
blood-pressure lowering medication with either furanocoumarin-free grapefruit juice, normal grapefruit juice, or orange
juice. Over a 24-hour period, the medication lingered about
twice as long in those who had drunk normal grapefruit juice
as in those who had drunk either processed grapefruit juice
or orange juice.
Today, many prescription drugs carry warnings to avoid
taking with grapefruit juice; however, research is being
conducted on ways to use grapefruit juice therapeutically to
enhance drug uptake. Some day instructions on a bottle of
pills may say “take only with grapefruit juice.”
Chestnuts
The images of the winter holidays are often filled with the
aroma of “chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” These flavorful
nuts are products of Castanea spp., a genus native to temperate regions of eastern North America, southern Europe,
northern Africa, and Asia. In North America, Castanea dentata, the American chestnut tree, was one of the most useful
trees to the native peoples and settlers. The trees, once some
of the most abundant in the Eastern forests, were towering
specimens, often reaching heights of 36 meters (120 feet) and
diameters of 2 meters (7 feet). The wood was highly prized
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99
for furniture, fence posts, telegraph poles, shingles, ship
masts, and railroad ties. The high tannin content of the wood
made the lumber resistant to decay and was a source of tannins for the tanning of leather.
The nuts have long been consumed by both humans
and animals; they can be eaten raw but are more commonly
boiled or roasted. The chestnuts can also be made into a rich
confectionery paste known as creme de marrons (chestnut
spread) used in French desserts. Nutritionally, chestnuts are
high in starch (approximately 78%) and unusually low in fat
(4% to 5%) for a nut.
Usually, three nuts (one-seeded fruits with a stony
pericarp) are borne in a spiny bur or husk that splits open at
maturity (fig. 6.7a). Each nut is produced by a single female
flower, which is borne in a cluster of three; the cluster is subtended by an involucre, a collection of bracts that develop into
the spiny bur as the fruits mature. The trees are monoecious,
with the staminate flowers borne in long slender catkins on
the same individual.
The reign of the chestnut trees in American forests began
to decline early in the twentieth century because of chestnut
blight, a disease caused by the fungus Cryphonectria parasitica (formerly known as Endothia parasitica). The fungus
is believed to have been introduced in 1890 from some Asian
chestnut trees brought to New York. The first reported case
of the disease was in 1904 at the Bronx Zoological Park.
Cankers, localized areas of dead tissue, were noted on several
of the trees in the park (fig. 6.7b). Although attempts were
made to stop the disease by pruning away diseased branches,
the fungus soon spread to all the chestnut trees in the park.
By 1950, chestnut blight had spread throughout the natural
range of Castanea dentata from Maine to Alabama and west
to the Mississippi River. Although the trunk of an infected
tree dies, the roots are usually not infected. The chestnut’s
ability to resprout from the roots has saved the species
from extinction. These young saplings can reach heights of
4–6 meters (12–20 feet) before they succumb to the blight.
Today, intense research efforts are focusing on various
techniques to restore the American chestnut to its former
glory. Researchers are field testing a blight-resistant variety
of American chestnut. Asian chestnut trees show resistance
to the blight fungus, and breeding programs in Connecticut
have developed hybrids between the Asian and American
species that are also resistant. The hybrids are backcrossed to
the American chestnut for several generations with the aim
that the only foreign genes remaining in the hybrids are those
that confer blight resistance. Biological control, another line
of ongoing research, uses a virus that infects Cryphonectria
parasitica. Strains of the fungus with the virus are hypovirulent (less potent) and do not destroy the chestunut trees.
Inoculating infected trees has resulted in disease remission. It
is hoped that the combination of resistant trees and biological
control may one day restore the American chestnut tree.
In May 2006, a stand of mature chestnut trees that had
somehow escaped the blight were found in the Appalachian
range in Georgia. The oldest of the half-dozen trees is about
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
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II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
© The McGraw−Hill
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Introduction to Plant Life: Botanical Principles
Exotic Fruits
Figure 6.7 (a) The developing bur of the chestnut fruit is
covered with sharp spines. (b) Chestnut blight has produced
cankers on the trunk of a chestnut tree.
40 feet tall and between 20–30 years old. Research will determine if the dry, rocky ridge somehow inhibits the fungus or if
these trees are naturally resistant. Pollen from the stand may
be used in the blight resistance breeding program.
Many of the dessert and snack fruits that we commonly enjoy are
not native to North America but had their origins in exotic lands
and faraway places. Consider these familiar fruits and their origins: apples (central Asia), oranges (southeastern Asia), peaches
(China), bananas (southeastern Asia), watermelons (Africa), and
pineapples (Latin America). Today this trend is accelerating,
and every year new fruits are introduced to the North American
public. The kiwifruit is a good example of a fruit that, within a
short time, made the jump from exotic to familiar.
Around 1980 the kiwifruit, Actinidia chinensis, began
appearing in supermarkets throughout the United States, and
soon after many people were enjoying this fuzzy brown eggshaped fruit. The distinctive flavor of its emerald green flesh
is reminiscent of a strawberry-banana-pineapple combination.
Its current popularity is the result of successful marketing that
began in New Zealand. Originally native to China, the plants
were introduced into New Zealand in 1904, where kiwifruit
was known as the Chinese gooseberry and often was grown as
an ornamental vine. Commercial farming began in the 1930s,
and the first exports were delivered to England in 1952.
Around this time, marketing strategists renamed the Chinese
gooseberry; the new name, kiwifruit, fit because its fuzzy
rind resembles New Zealand’s flightless bird, the kiwi. The
name change paid off. Sales and exports increased steadily,
and by the late 1980s it was an American produce staple. In
the United States, cultivation of this berry is found mainly
in northern California, with a large percentage of the crop
exported to Europe, Japan, and Canada.
One exotic fruit that may be seen more frequently in the
near future is the cherimoya, Annona cherimola. This tree
fruit, native to the uplands of Peru and Ecuador, was first
cultivated by the ancient Incas. In appearance, the aggregate
fruit looks like a leathery green pinecone. Its custardlike flesh
can be scooped out and is delicious with cream or orange
juice. Today, cherimoya, described by some as the aristocrat
of fruits, is widely grown in Chile, Spain, and Israel and is
making inroads in North America through California growers. Atemoya, a new hybrid resulting from a cross between
the cherimoya and the closely related sugar apple (Annona
squamosa), has the advantage of being more tolerant of environmental conditions than either parent and can, therefore,
be grown in a wide variety of climates. The sweet taste of
atemoya makes this a superb fruit for fresh consumption as
well as for frozen desserts.
Carambola, Averrhoa carambola, is another ancient fruit
that has recently been introduced to North American markets.
Native to Malaysia, the carambola is also known as star fruit
because a series of five-pointed yellow stars results from slicing the elongate fluted fruit. This tart fruit adds an appealing
shape that brightens up seafoods, salads, desserts, and fruit
punches. The fruit can also be squeezed to make a refreshing juice or can be picked green, cooked, and eaten as a
vegetable. Presently, star fruits are grown throughout the
tropics, with the U.S. cultivation centered in Florida.
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
CHAPTER 6
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2008
Plant Life Cycle: Fruits and Seeds
101
CHAPTER SUMMARY
1. Fruits are unique to the sexual reproduction of angiosperms. They protect the enclosed seeds and aid in seed
dissemination. Botanically, a fruit is a ripened ovary
although in the United States, the legal definition of a fruit
is something that tastes sweet and is eaten as dessert.
Figure 6.8 Durians have a heavenly flavor but stink like a skunk.
While cherimoyas are the aristocrats of fruit in South
America, durians, Durio zibethinus, are considered the king
of fruit throughout much of Southeast Asia (fig. 6.8). The
best durians are said to have originated in Malaysia, although
Thailand and South Vietnam are the leading producers. Durian
trees produce melon-sized fruits that have a thick green rind
and are covered with stout spines. Inside the fruit, there are usually five compartments, with smooth, creamy white pulp surrounding the seeds. This pulp, which is typically eaten fresh, is
usually described as having a heavenly flavor. By contrast, the
most notorious feature of durian fruits is their incredibly foul
smell, which has been described as similar to the smell of rotten eggs. The odor is due to the presence of sulfur compounds;
in fact, there are 43 sulfur compounds in durians. Some of
these are similar to the compounds in onions and garlic; others are similar to the compounds produced by skunks. The
odor is so strong that in Singapore, fresh durians are banned
in buses, subways, taxis, and airlines. Despite the odor, during
the harvest season, thousands of tourists from Japan and other
Asian countries come to durian festivals and tours in Malaysia.
Durian trees require tropical conditions and abundant rainfall;
seedlings introduced to Florida survived only a short time.
The trees have been introduced successfully to Hawaii, some
Caribbean Islands, and Honduras although so far the plantings
are not extensive. Fresh durians have a short shelf life and are
seldom shipped out of Asia. However, the United States is the
largest importer of frozen durians, which can be found in Asian
groceries in major U.S. cities. The world’s smelliest fruit may
soon be arriving at your neighborhood market.
After 20 years of research, a scientist at Thailand’s
Horicultural Research Institute has created an odorless variety
of durian. Without the offensive smell, Chantaburi No. 1 is
predicted to become a major export crop for Thailand when
commercial production begins in a few years. In the meantime, research is progessing on a durian variety that is both
odorless and thornless.
2. Fruits can be classified according to the characteristics of
the fruit wall or pericarp. In fleshy fruits, the pericarp is
soft and juicy; berry, hesperidium, pepo, drupe, and pome
are all examples of fleshy fruits. In dry fruits, the pericarp
is often tough or papery. Dry fruits can also be dehiscent,
splitting open along one or more seams to release their
seeds. Follicles, legumes, and capsules are examples of
dehiscent fruits. Dry fruits that do not split open are indehiscent; examples of this fruit type are achenes, samaras,
grains, and nuts. Simple fruits are derived from a single
ovary. Aggregate fruits develop from the separate ovaries
within a single flower; multiple fruits result from the fusion
of ovaries from separate flowers in an inflorescence.
3. Seeds are the end products of sexual reproduction in
flowering plants. Each seed contains an embryonic plant,
nutrient tissue to nourish the embryo, and a tough outer
seed coat. Differences exist between monocot and dicot
seeds. Monocotyledonous seeds have a single thin cotyledon whereas dicotyledonous seeds typically have two
large cotyledons.
4. Edible fruits have played an important role not only as
a significant contribution to the human diet but also in
scientific studies and folklore. Once-exotic fruits are
becoming commonplace as they are incorporated into the
world’s marketplace.
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is the function of the fruit in the life cycle of an
angiosperm?
2. Give the botanical meaning of the following: berry, nut,
legume, grain.
3. What is a seed? What is a fruit?
4. Compare and contrast monocot and dicot seeds in structure and germination.
5. How did the tomato, an Aztec fruit, become the staple of
Italian cookery?
6. What factors contributed to the successful introduction of
the kiwifruit into North American markets?
7. Although “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” is an
American image, most chestnuts eaten in the United
States are from Italy. Why?
8. Research the history, uses, and folklore of the following
fruits: pineapple, mango, papaya.
9. How does fruit structure reflect the method of seed
dispersal? Give examples.
Levetin−McMahon: Plants
and Society, Fifth Edition
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UNIT II
II. Introduction to Plant
Life: Botanical Principles
6. Plant Life Cycle: Fruits
and Seeds
© The McGraw−Hill
Companies, 2008
Introduction to Plant Life: Botanical Principles
FURTHER READING
Barlow, Connie. 2001. Ghost Stories from the Ice Age.
Natural History 110(7): 62–67.
Canine, Craig. 2005. Building a Better Banana. Smithsonian
36(7): 96–104.
Conniff, Richard. 1987. How the World Puts Gourds to
Work. International Wildlife 17(3): 18–24.
Dunn, Robert R. 2005. How Ants Disperse Seeds. Natural
History 114(7): 30–35.
Genthe, Henry. 1999. Durians Smell Awful—But the Taste Is
Heavenly. Smithsonian 30(6): 94–102.
Hubbell, Sue. 1996. Three Cheers for King Pumpkin—Orange
and Lovable. Smithsonian 27(7): 64–69.
Hubbell, Sue. 2001. Engineering the Apple. Natural History
110(8): 44–53.
Karp, David. 2006. Berried Treasure. Smithsonian 37(4):
82–86.
Juniper, Barrie E. 2007. The Mysterious Origins of the Sweet
Apple. American Scientist 95(1): 44–51.
McPhee, John. 1967. Oranges. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux,
New York, NY.
Newhouse, Joseph R. 1990. Chestnut Blight. Scientific
American 263(1): 106–111.
Pollan, Michael. 2001. The Botany of Desire. Random House,
New York, NY.
Roberts, Jonathan. 2002. The Origins of Fruit and Vegetables.
Universe Publishing, New York, NY.
Rosengarten, Frederic, Jr. 1984. The Book of Edible Nuts.
Walker and Co., New York, NY.
Rupp, Rebecca. 1987. Blue Corn and Square Tomatoes.
Garden Way Publishing, Pownal, VT.
Vietmeyer, Noel. 1985. Exotic Edibles Are Altering America’s
Diet and Agriculture. Smithsonian 16(9): 34–43.
Vietmeyer, Noel. 1987. The Captivating Kiwifruit. National
Geographic 171(5): 682–688.
Walsh, Robb. 1999. The Fruit I Can’t Get Past My Nose.
Natural History 108(7): 76–78.
Wolf, Thomas H. 1990. How the Lowly Love Apple Rose in
the World. Smithsonian 21(5): 110–117.
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